Month: June 2022

The Minkster, under David Moran, made his 3-year-old debut a winning one, taking the $125,000 Queenston Stakes, Sunday at Woodbine.

​A seven-furlong sprint for Canadian-foaled 3-year-olds, the Queenston is one of the key prep races leading up to the $1 million Queen's Plate on Aug. 21.

​If Sunday's race was any indication as to what it's in store for the 163rd edition of the Plate, it could be one of the most memorable runnings to date.

​His Time, under Patrick Husbands, grabbed the early lead in the seven-furlong main track feature, as David Moran, aboard The Minkster, sat just off the pacesetter, with Ironstone and mutuel choice Duke of Love occupying the third and fourth spots, respectively, through an opening quarter in :22.54.

​As the seven-horse field (Perfect Day was scratched) reached the half-mile mark in :45.16, Moran then made his move, putting The Minkster on top, as Ironstone and Duke of Love maintained their positions.

​Heading into the final turn, The Minkster was asked for his best run, while Ironstone, hemmed in along the rail, found daylight and began his quest to tackle the leader. Rondure, coming off a spectacular maiden-breaking performance, began to rally to the outside, as Duke of Love looked to keep pace with his rivals.

​At the wire, The Minkster, trained by Dan Vella and owned by Sea Glass Stable, held on for a head score. Rondure finished a head in front of Ironstone for the runner-up prize, with Duke of Love taking fourth.

​The final time for seven panels was 1:21.01.

​“He travels good,” said Moran, of last year's Coronation Futurity winner. “I knew Patrick [jockey, Husbands, aboard His Time] would be in front and I was wondering if Justin [jockey, Stein, aboard Duke of Love] would go on. So, when I was sitting second to Patrick, I was happy. The plan was to stalk him anyway. I was happy to have Ironstone locked in on my inside. He [The Minkster] traveled lovely and I saw Patrick struggling half-way around the bend. My guy had come on the bridle at that point, so I just let him at it, and he ran right to the wire. Actually, he got a little bit bored for a couple of strides until the other ones came and then he galloped out nice again. He has matured, even in the morning, his works are very nice. Hopefully, this is a stepping-stone for the right way.”

​Vella, who has two Plate triumphs to his name, in 1994 with Basqueian and in 2021 with Strait of Dover, will look to net the hat trick with his sophomore son of English Channel-Cabriole.

​“A good friend of mine, Mike Cook, had him in Florida, and he did a lot of work and got him ready for us. He's a horse that trains well in the morning and we didn't have much trouble getting him ready. He developed a lot from two to three. Not every horse does, but he's matured a lot. He's training at a better level than last year, so we're very excited.” ​

​Vella, a multiple graded stakes winning conditioner with 863 career victories and counting, has high praise for the bay colt bred by Dr. Tan Hyka.

​Where does The Minkster, now three-for-three, rate on the list of the top horses he has campaigned?

​“He's as good or better than anything I've ever had. The Plate Trial is probably our next goal.”

​Ray and Debbie Burke of Sea Glass Stables are happy to be along for the ride.

​“We've been in the business about five years, and we had some Kentucky-breds and those we raced for a couple of years,” noted Ray. “We teamed up with Danny and Mike Cook down in Ocala and bought some Canadian-breds. Obviously, we are really excited about The Minkster and his development. We were very anxious waiting from age two to age three, to this day, to see that development. It's been a long nine months, but we're pretty happy.”

​“It's very exciting,” added Debbie.

​The Minkster paid $19.10, $7.50 and $4.50 and combined with Rondure ($4.90, $3.50) for a $94.50 exactor. Ironstone ($3.60) completed a $474.40 triactor. Duke of Love rounded out a $1 superfecta worth $610.85.

​Live Thoroughbred racing resumes Thursday with a first post of 5:05 p.m.

The post The Minkster Remains Undefeated On Road To Queen’s Plate appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The most keenly anticipated head-to-head of Royal Ascot week comes on day one when Chris Waller's outstanding Australian sprinter Nature Strip meets Wesley Ward's dual Breeders' Cup winner Golden Pal in a truly global King's Stand Stakes, which carries prize money of £500,000 (US$608,000) and is the first sprint race of the 2022 QIPCO British Champions Series.

Nature Strip has earned just short of £10m (US$12.17) in Australia, where his eight Group 1 wins include the TJ Smith Stakes three times, as well as the Lightning Stakes and last year's Everest, which is not graded but is the richest turf race in the world.

He is the best sprinter in the world according to the Longines World's Best Racehorse rankings, but speed king Ward might not agree as he has long insisted that Golden Pal is “a once in a lifetime horse” and “the fastest of the fast”.

Neither Waller nor Ward will want to contemplate defeat, but there will also be considerable interest in King's Lynn, the Queen's first runner in this Platinum Jubilee Royal Ascot and a recent Group 2 winner of Haydock's Temple Stakes.

Waller, who saddled Winx for a record 33 successive wins and won last year's Melbourne Cup with Verry Elleegant, has long been itching to bring Nature Strip to Royal Ascot, but he has twice been thwarted by pandemic restrictions. He is hoping it is third time lucky and believes Nature Strip has what it takes to emulate some of the great Australian sprinters who won at Royal Ascot in a golden spell bookended by Choisir in 2003 and Black Caviar in 2012.

Waller has based Nature Strip and his Platinum Jubilee hope Home Affairs in what he describes as “horse heaven” with Charlie Hills and he has been delighted at how well the pair have relaxed and acclimatized.

Brazen Beau, his only previous Royal Ascot runner, was narrowly beaten by Ward's Undrafted in the 2015 Diamond Jubilee, but Waller took plenty of positives home from the experience. He said: “We learned from the Brazen Beau trip that it would be achievable to win a race here one day. We almost pulled it off and we'll try and get it right this time.

“We are fully aware of Ascot every year and we want to bring the best, which is not always easy to do. We've got horses with the right credentials this year, and it fits in well for both horses. In Australia there aren't many boxes left to tick for Nature Strip, as he's won everything there in terms of the feature sprints, and it's just a great experience for the ownership group, my stable, and my team.

“They did their first piece of fast work in two weeks when they galloped four furlongs at Ascot on Friday. They just needed a bit of stimulation, and I was pretty happy with what they did. There's no room for error here and having come all of this way they need to be familiar with the surroundings so that they don't fall apart on raceday.

“Nature Strip has really matured into a foolproof horse. He was a little bit hit or miss in his early career as he used to charge and race too fiercely. Through maturity we've managed to harness that and he's now racing more tractably, which I think is important as we've found that if you go flat out over 1000 meters you'll come undone.”

He added: “It's always hard when you are coming from the other side of the world, but it sounds like Golden Pal is very quick. But what Nature Strip and Home Affairs have is that they are good straight track horses, so they only need to replicate their Australian form to be capable of fighting out the finish with the best in the world. I think it will be a tough 1000 metres, and probably more like an Australian 1100 or 1200, which is probably his perfect distance.

“Royal Ascot is something unique and it will all be about which horse copes with the occasion and the pressure of the race. I doubt Golden Pal will have been under the pressure he is about to be under, with the same applying to our horse as well. These races make champions and talking points.”

Ward, who added America to the King's Stand honors board when Lady Aurelia came home clear in 2017, is “very excited” about Golden Pal's prospects, despite defeats on both previous starts in England.

He said: “He's a very special horse and he's shown that in his races. I think what separates this guy is that he is very quick out of the gates, goes fast early, and just keeps going. Most sprinters that go as fast as him can't maintain that speed.

“He's been beaten twice in England, but I'm excited to have another try. In the Norfolk Stakes I think he ran very well and it was a little bit of jockey error, as Andrea (Atzeni) was told to sit and wait and wait but he made his move way too soon and gave The Lir Jet a chance to come back at him.

“After the Nunthorpe we were searching for an answer but found no physical issues. I wasn't concerned about his draw, but he was coming off a resounding win at Saratoga and York might have been too close to such a powerful performance. Frankie (Dettori) took a pretty good hold of him, and that may have restricted his airway a little, but that's just reaching for excuses.”

The international challenge also includes last month's Longchamp Group 3 winner Ponntos, who will be a first Czech-trained Royal Ascot runner, plus Logo Hunter and Mooneista from Ireland, but there would surely be no more popular winner than King's Lynn, on whose shoulders rest all hopes of an opening day Royal winner.

King's Lynn enjoyed little luck when running twice at the meeting 12 months ago, but he was beaten barely three lengths when seventh in the King's Stand and only half a length when third in the Wokingham. He comes here at the top of his form, but plenty will be fancying Twilight Calls, who was beaten only a head at Haydock, to turn the tables.

Twilight Calls' trainer Henry Candy has his team in good form and said: “I think he's going in the right direction and he possibly has as good a chance as any of the home team. He's learned his job and he looks good.

“He may have been a little unlucky at Haydock but he's a hold up horse and so very much subject to misfortune like that. I thought it was marginal, but Adam (Kirby, jockey) was spitting blood. A fast run race ought to suit him.”

The Nunthorpe winner Winter Power, a really speedy five-furlong specialist, was down the field in the Haydock race but much better is expected here.

Charlie Appleby's Blue Point beat the brilliant Battaash both times when winning the King's Stand in both 2018 and 2019. Appleby is excited at being involved in such an international event with both Man Of Promise and Lazuli and said: “Man of Promise is going into the race fresh and well, which is key for him. He's a good solid horse and I feel that track and trip are going to suit him.

“This has been Lazuli's target since he won the Blue Point Sprint over the five at Ascot. He's a good old-fashioned sprinter, with a big backend on him, and he's got a lot of natural pace.”

Charlie Hills also runs two. His Khaadem beat Existent and Saint Lawrence in Newmarket's Palace House Stakes last time, while Equilateral was second to Battaash in the 2020 King's Stand but has been off for 444 days.

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Royal Ascot 2022 opens in glorious fashion when the brilliant miler Baaeed, widely recognized as the best horse in the world, takes on six rivals in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, which resumes its traditional spot as the meeting's curtain raiser after two years disrupted by Covid.

The Queen Anne is one of three Group 1s to be run on a star-studded opening day. It is the first of eight Group 1s this week which are part of the QIPCO British Champions Series, and on the tenth anniversary of Frankel's spellbinding 11-length win here it is fitting that the race has attracted a colt who is already being talked about as the best horse we have seen since then.

Direct comparisons between the pair are premature, and while Baaeed was officially recognized last week by a team of international handicappers as the world number one he is still not yet in the same parish as QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Famer Frankel.

However, he has so far carried all before him and trainer William Haggas is pleased to have an opportunity to race him on fast ground for the first time since his impressive win at Newmarket last July. If the quicker going contributes to a wider margin win than in last month's Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes, which was his third successive Group 1, he can close the gap a little.

Haggas, who reports no negatives since Newbury, said: “I've always thought he would enjoy racing on a faster surface than he was getting last year, and he's in good form. His new position in the rankings is a bigger deal for the press than it is for me, but he's obviously good.”

Jockey Jim Crowley, who enjoyed a sensational six wins at Royal Ascot win two years ago, does not disagree about the ground. He said: “I wouldn't be too concerned about any ground except extremes, and the clerk of the course Chris Stickels always does a beautiful job at Ascot, but there's no question Baaeed was very good when he last had the opportunity to race on quick ground at Newmarket last year.”

He added: “I haven't sat on him since Newbury, but Michael Hills rides him in all his work and seems very happy with him. I like to play things down a bit, but then Richard Hills was on the front page of the Racing Post saying he was the banker of the week!”

Real World had a rear view of Baaeed in the Lockinge Stakes, but he kept on well to keep the margin down to little more than three lengths. There were two top Group 1-winning fillies behind, so it was a decent effort by any measure.

Saeed Bin Suroor does not underestimate the task his five-year-old will face if he is to turn the tables on Baaeed, who he describes as “a superstar”, but he believes it is not impossible.

He said: “Real World came back good from the Lockinge and he went well when he did his last piece of work on Thursday. He won over the straight mile at Royal Ascot last year, and while that was a handicap and this is a Group 1 he has done well since and won Group 2s in France and Dubai.

“He will probably be chasing Baaeed again, as Baaeed is a superstar, but Real World gets further, so a strong pace would suit him and he's improving all of the time, so I'm not without hope. I'm very happy with him.”

Richard Hannon offers no excuse for Chindit in the Lockinge, where his third was probably a career best, and he acknowledges the colt has to run the race of his life to get near Baaeed. However, he points out that the four-year-old has already won a Group 3 and a Group 2 and so there is really nowhere else to go but for a Group 1, and he believes there is “a massive day in him” some time.

The 2020 Breeders' Cup Mile winner Order Of Australia finished only fifth here last year but went on to finish second in two Group 1s, getting to within a length and a quarter of Baaeed in the Prix Du Moulin. He has been off the track since October but has been pleasing at home.

Aidan O'Brien said: “He was injured at Keeneland on his last run, which is why he's been off so long, but the time before he'd been second to Baaeed at Longchamp. He had a hairline fracture of a fetlock and had to have a pin in it, but we've been happy with him at home.”

The field is completed by Sir Michael Stoute's Sandown Mile winner Lights On, running in her first Group 1 in preference to Wednesday's Group 2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes, shock 2018 winner Accidental Agent, operating at a lower level these days but currently in good form in handicaps, and 2020 Silver Hunt Cup winner Sir Busker, who has been winless since but loves a straight course and finished third here 12 months ago.

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